/*
 * The MIT License (MIT) Copyright (c) 2013 AlgorithmX2 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
 * obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software
 * without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute,
 * sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
 * subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
 * copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
 * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
 * AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
 * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
 * SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 */

package appeng.api.networking.ticking;

import appeng.api.networking.IGridNode;

/**
 * Implement on IGridHosts which want to use AE's Network Ticking Feature.
 */
public interface IGridTickable {

    /**
     * Important note regarding IGridTickables with more then one one node,
     *
     * If your IGridHost hosts multiple nodes, it may be on multiple grids, or its node may be present on the same grid
     * multiple times, this is as designed, however if you choose to use the grid to tick these Hosts you must be aware
     * that they they should probably pick a single node to tick for, and not tick for each node.
     *
     */

    /**
     * You can return null, if you wish to tick using MC's ticking mechanism, or you can return a valid TickingRequest
     * to tell AE a guide for which type of responsiveness your device wants.
     * <p>
     * this will be called for your tile any time your tile changes grids, this can happen at any time, so if your using
     * the sleep feature you may wish to preserve your sleep, in the result of this method. or you can simply reset it.
     *
     * @return null or a valid new TickingRequest
     */
    TickingRequest getTickingRequest(IGridNode node);

    /**
     * AE lets you adjust your tick rate based on the results of your tick, if your block as accomplished work you may
     * wish to increase the ticking speed, if your block is idle you may wish to slow it down.
     * <p>
     * Its up to you.
     * <p>
     * Note: this is never called if you return null from getTickingRequest.
     *
     * @param TicksSinceLastCall the number of world ticks that were skipped since your last tick, you can use this to
     *                           adjust speed of processing or adjust your tick rate.
     * @return tick rate adjustment.
     */
    TickRateModulation tickingRequest(IGridNode node, int TicksSinceLastCall);
}
